Paper-folding machine



H.-A. SELFRIDGE.

PAPER FOLDING MACHINE.

APPLICATION HLED IULYZB, 192].

1,429,049. t t fi p 12,1 22

H. A. SELFRIDGE.

PAPER FOLDING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED IULY23,1921.

Patented Sept. 12, 1922.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

- To all whom it may comer-n:

Patented Sept. 12, 192 2.

miuso'n A. snmi'mnen, or

NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT.

I PAPER-FOLDING MACHINE.

Application filed July 23,

Be it known that I, HARRISON A. SEL- FRIDGE, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at New Haven, in the county of New Haven and State ofConnecticut, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Paper-FoldingMachines; and I do hereby declare the following, when taken in con-'nection with the accompanying drawings and the characters 'of referencemarked thereon, to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same,and which said drawings constitute part of this application, andrepresent, in V Fig. 1 a plan view of a paper folding machineconstructed in accordance with my invention;

Fig. 2 a front view of the same.

Fig. 3 a side view of the same.

Fi 4 a sectional view on the line 4-4 of F1gure'2, showing the slidesmoved upward.

Fig. 5 a similar view showing the slides 7 mg slide 26, the inner corner27 ofits upmoved downward.

Figs. 6 and 7 strips of paper folded upon the machine.

This invention relates to improvement in paper folding machines andparticularly to machines for folding paper for use in con-v nection withpleating fabric. In the more eneral custom of pleating fabric, a stripof fieavy aper is first folded on the lines desired or the pleating ofthe fabric, the

fabric is then laid on this paper strip and pressed. It is generallycustomary to score the paper strips at the point where it is to. bebent, but this scoring weakens the strip, and, furthermore, the scoringoccupies considerable time, as it must be done with care,

so that the folds shall be accurate.

The object of this invention is to produce a machine by which a strip ofpaper ,may be folded either up or down, according to the character ofthe pleats desired, and the invention consists in the construction ashereinafter described and particularly recited in the claims.

The strip of paper, to be folded, passes between a clamping-member -10fixed at opposite. sides to uprights 11 mounted upon a suitable base 12and a corresponding movable member 13, Which is guided at opposite endsby pins 14, the lower ends 15 of which ,are threaded for engagement withthe fixed member. "These pins have attached to their upper ends arms 16and 17 connected at vided to guide the slide vertically.

1921. Serial No. 488,966.

the paper strip may be advanced, The

1paper is fed through the gripping-members etween rolls 19 and 20, oneof wh1ch is pro--- vided with a-gear .21 meshing with a segmental rack22 provided with an operatinghandle 24, so that, by moving the handle,the rolls W111 be turned to feed the paper between the clamping-members.As ring pawl 25 is provided to prevent the bac ard movement of therolls. v

Mounted on the fixed-memberlO is a fold- 'fixed-member, and mounted onthe movablemember 13 is a'corresponding slide 28, having the lnnercorner 29 of its lower end slightly beveled and adapted to project be-.

yond the upper face of the fixed-member. The slide 26 ,is formed with aseries of vertical slots 39, through which guide studs 40 extend intoengagement with the clamping member 10, a collar or washer 41 being pro-The slide 28 is also formed with a series of vertical slots 42, throughwhich guide studs 43 extend into engagement with the clamping member 13,a collar or washer 44 bein provided to guide the slide verticall heseslides are connected together at t eir ends by plates 30 and 31 providedwith outwardly-projecting lugs 32, to which are attached links 33connected at their lower ends to levers 34, which in turn are fixed toatransverse rock-shaft 35, to which is also aifixedupwardly-projectinglevers 36 connected at their upper ends by .across-bar handle 37, so that, by the movement of the handle 37 backwardor forward, the slides 26 and 28 will be moved up or down.

The strip of, aper is assed between the feed-rolls 19 an 20 and betweenthe clamping-members 10 and 13,-so as .to yond the outer faces thereofgag'ect been the .ingirbox-pleatin paper is in position, thepin-operating handle 18 will be shifted to force the clampingmember 13downward upon the paper, against the fixed member 10. If an upward bendis. to be given the paper, the handle 37 will be moved rearward, whichmoves the slides 26 and 28 upward, causing the slide 26 to bend thepaper upward, as indicated in Figure 4 of the drawings, and the bevelededge prevents the paper from breaking at the bend. After this bend ismade, the pin-"operating handle 18 is'again shifted to separate theclamping-members, and the handle 24 is turned to feed the paper to thedesired extent for the next bend; the paperis again clamped in position,and if the next bend is to be a downward one, as indicated in Figure 5of the drawings, the handle 37 will be moved forward, which will depressthe slides and bend the'paper downward, and these operations arecontinued until the desired strip is formed, and as indicated in Figures6 and 7 of the drawings, these strips varying according to whether thestrip isto be used for side-pleator accordian-pleatin ith this mac ine,the paper is fol ed on straight lines, the folds are parallel and thestrip is folded without breaking the paper and the operation isperformed with much less time than whendone by hand.

I claim:

1. A paper folding machine, comprising a fixed clamping-member, amovable clamping-member above the same, each having a horizontalclamping-face and a vertical wall, means for feeding a strip of paperbetween the clamping-members, a slide connected with the outer face ofthe vertical wall of each of said clamping-members, and means for movingthe said slides up or down beyond the meeting faces of saidclampingmembers.

2. A machine for folding paper, comprising a fixed clamping-member and amovable clamping-member, each having a horizontal clamping-face and avertical wall, means for connecting them together, means for feeding astrip of paper between the said clamping-members, folding slides movablymounted upon the outer faces of the vertical walls of the saidclamping-members, the said slides connected together, and means formoving the said slides up or down beyond the meeting faces of saidclampingmembers.

3. A machine for folding paper comprising a fixed clamping-member and amovable ing a fixed clamping-member and a movable clamping member, eachhaving a horizontal clamping-face and a vertical wall, means forcoupling the said clamping-members together, means for feeding a stripof paper between the said clamping-members, a slide movably mounted upon.the outer face of the vertical wall of each of the saidclamping-members, said slides connected together at their ends, linksconnected with said slides, levers connected with the lower ends of saidlinks, a rock-shaft upon which said levers are mounted and means forturning the said rock-shaft, whereby the adjacent edges of the saidslides are moved beyond the horizontal faces of the saidclampingmembers. i

In testimony whereof, I have signed this specification in the presenceof two subscribing witnesses.

HARRISON A. SELFRIDGE.

Witnesses:

MALCOLM P. NICHOLS. FRnonRIo C. EARLE.

